Gender Aspects of the Corruption with Reference to the Republic of North Macedonia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GENDER ASPECTS OF THE CORRUPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA GENDER ASPECTS OF THE CORRUPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia Title: Gender Aspects of the Corruption with Reference to the Republic of North Macedonia Author: Maja Lazarova, National Program Officer Democratization Department, OSCE Mission to Skopje Proofreading: Zlata Brajovikj Gjurovska Translation into English: Silvana Ivanovska Layout and design: Polyesterday, Skopje www.osce.org/skopje © OSCE Mission to Skopje 2020 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely used and copied for educational and other non-commercial purposes, provided that any such reproduction is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the OSCE Mission to Skopje as the source. The materials in this publication are for ease of reference only. Although the OSCE Mission to Skopje has invested the utmost care in its development, it does not accept any liability for the accuracy and completeness of any information, instructions and advice provided or for any misprints. The contents of this publication, the views, opinions, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the OSCE. For these reasons, no claims can be made against the OSCE in respect of potential consequences from the reliance on information or conclusions contained in this publication. 2 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia CONTENTS PREFACE . 5 1. INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS . 7 2. INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT . .10 2.1. International Conventions and Initiatives . 10 2.2 OSCE Strategic Documents and Commitments . 13 3. NATIONAL CONTEXT . 16 3.1 Gender Structure of the Population in the Republic of North Macedonia. 16 3.2 Law on Prevention of Corruption and Conflict of Interests 18 3.3 Criminal Code . 18 3.4 Law on Public Sector Employees. 21 3.5 Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men . 23 4. KEY ASPECTS TO ANALYSE . 25 4.1 Gender Perspective in the Fight against Corruption . 26 4.2 Gender-Specific Forms of Corruption . 29 4.3 The Impact of Corruption on Women. 31 4.4 Correlation with the Representation of Women in Public Life . 33 4.5 The Link between Gender Representation and Corruption in Public . 36 5. Conclusions and Recommendations . 38 5.1 Conclusion . 38 5.2 Recommendations . 39 6. SOURCES . 43 3 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia LIST OF USED ABBREVIATIONS GDP Gross Domestic Product SDGs Gross Domestic Product United Nations Convention Against UNCAC Corruption UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime GRECO Group of States against Corruption Organization for Security and Cooperation OSCE in Europe CC Criminal Code IAWJ International Association of Women Judges EQI European Quality Index UNDP United Nations Development Programme 4 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia PREFACE DEAR READER, The OSCE Mission to Skopje strongly supports implementation of key reforms in North Macedonia that fall within our mandate, including efforts to advance the national anti-corruption agenda. We are committed to mainstreaming a gender perspective in all of our work and supporting North Macedonia to promote gender equality and a greater participation of women and men in public, economic, and political life. North Macedonia has established a solid legal and policy framework stemming from the basic gender equality principles enshrined in the Constitution. The passage of the Law on Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, and the Law for Protection of Women Against Violence, as well as the progress made towards finalizing the draft Gender Equality Law expected to be adopted by March 2021, are important steps in this direction. Nonetheless, gender inequality and gender-based discrimination are still widespread, as are gender-based violence and domestic violence, while women remain under-represented in the public sphere. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways negated recent progress. Because of the closure of schools and childcare facilities, women have taken a disproportionate share of childcare, home-schooling and household responsibilities, thus further reducing their participation in the job market and their contribution to the economic sphere. The shrinking of economic opportunities has also exacerbated the pre-existing gender gaps and inequalities. As the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports1, corruption disproportionately affects vulnerable populations and hits the poor the hardest, especially women, who represent a higher share of the world's poor. Corruption also hinders progress towards gender equality and presents a barrier for women to gain full access to their civic, social and economic rights.2 Corruption has been proven to affect women more negatively than men, 1 https://www.unodc.org/lpo-brazil/en/frontpage/2019/12/corruption-and-gender_-women-and-men-affected-differently-by-corruption-- but-no-evidence-women-or-men-are-less-corruptible.html 2 https://www.transparency.org/files/content/corruptionqas/Topic_guide_gender_corruption_Final_2016.pdf 5 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia although in North Macedonia there remains a severe lack of information about corruption and its implications on women that needs to be addressed. The country needs more information on how often women face corruption, how widespread are gender forms of corruption, whether women are more often subject to corruption when requesting public services, how corruption affects them, and finally, if women could be considered lead players in the fight against corruption. This discussion paper represents a pioneering step to open a debate on gendered forms of corruption in the country. We are pleased to contribute to the policy dialogue in elevating this subject to a higher level of attention with policymakers, civil society, and the general public. We hope that this paper will contribute to taking further steps towards recognition, documentation, and institutionalization of gendered forms of corruption in the national legislation and, eventually, contribute to reducing the impact of corruption on women. Ambassador Clemens Koja Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje 6 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia 1. INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS This discussion paper addresses the less considered aspects of corruption and its gender dimension and the link between them. The international experience shows that the presented observations have been especially relevant in the last decade due to the increased efforts to encourage democratic development of societies and analysis of all impeding factors that are delaying or preventing it. Gender equality means that women and men have equal rights and opportunities to realize their individual potential while also contributing to the economic and social development of their country and gaining benefit from their participation in society in return. However, corruption prevents the achievement of gender equality. Corruption exacerbates gender disparities, increases or at least perpetuates social inequalities in the access to health and education services, resources and income distribution, and poses a major obstacle to women gaining full access to their civil, social and economic rights3. Corruption is also related to the abuse of power for discrimination or deprivation of people of their rights. Like gender inequality, corruption has the potential to slow down development and increase poverty.4 Corruption contributes to increasing social, cultural, political and institutional discrimination against women in the everyday life. The experience to date shows that the countries that have made progress in achieving gender equality have seen lower levels of corruption over the years.5 Data in support of this are presented in the report of the Inter-Parliamentary Union against a sample of 30 countries in Europe.6 According to the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (2001) based on the annual surveys of senior business executives around the world, the link between women in power and corruption was examined in 93 countries, correlating the average number of years in education, religious and ethnic 3 B20, C20 and W20 #CorruptionТoo: Why gender matters for anti-corruption 4 UNDP: Survey Methodology- addressing gender equality related corruption risks and vulnerabilities in civil service 5 Transparency International: Gender, Equality and Corruption – What are the linkages? 6 L. Wängnerud: The Link between Gender and Corruption in Europe, 2015. Published online by Anticorruption Policies Revisited (the research refers to Turkey, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Malta, Slovenia, Cyprus, Estonia, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.) 7 Gender aspects of the corruption with reference to the Republic of North Macedonia structure and political freedoms with the GDP per capita. It was concluded that countries with higher representation of women in parliaments or in managerial positions in the private sector show lower levels of corruption. It was concluded that countries with higher representation of